China has 1.3 bn bank cards almost equal to its population

Beijing: More than 1.3 billion bank cards have been issued by the end of September in China, roughly one for every person of an equal population figure, the state media reported.

Banks have issued debit, credit and semi-credit cards that could be used at 1.08 million points of sale of 650,000 specially endorsed outlets and 120,000 automatic teller machines.

Bank card consumption as a percentage of China's total retail sales exceeded 18 per cent in the first nine months as more Chinese opted for cards over cash, Xinhua news agency said quoting Xu Luode,president of China UnionPay, the country's only bank card network operator.

Large national banks dominated the market with regional financial institutions holding just nine per cent share for the first half this year.

Nielsen Company survey said the use of bank cards was spreading quickly and reshaping the shopping habits of the Chinese although cash remained the main mode of payment.

The report, based on 11,500 Chinese consumers in 18 cities, including Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenzhen and Shenyang, said urban card holders were gradually adopting Western consumption habits of using cards not only for shopping, but also cash withdrawals and even installment payments.